The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for increasing worker safety and improving industrial efficiency and, in particular, an apparatus for preventing freight from being prematurely removed from a work station.
When freight, such as bulk loads of parts, subassemblies, and other articles is transported to and from various workstations within an industrial setting, it is often necessary to have an accurate system for signaling when such freight may be removed. For example, in an assembly plant, a large rack loaded with parts for subassembly may be deposited by forklift at the appropriate workstation where workers will take the parts from the rack for subassembly. A forklift may then subsequently remove the rack, but should only do so when all parts have been removed and when no worker is reaching into the rack. Removal of the rack while parts remain stowed will decrease process efficiency, and removal of the rack while workers are accessing it may compromise worker safety.
Various imperfectly reliable signaling procedures, such as requiring workers to manually hang a sign indicating when freight should or should not be removed, have been employed. Such systems can fail when a worker forgets to follow the procedure or when the signal is insufficiently visible.
A system which automatically blocked freight removal when workers are accessing the freight and/or while articles remain stowed in the freight would improve efficiency and safety. A system which additionally provided convenient means for a worker to enable freight removal at the appropriate time while simultaneously warning other workers away would improve efficiency and safety further still.